SF's Best Cheap Eats: Chow Down

A la Turca (Tendernob)
A la Turca will turn six in July, so some of you probably already know about this Tendernob Turkish restaurant and its pides—tender little slippers of yeasted dough filled with salty cheese, meat or vegetables (our favorite is the version with cheese and sucuk, a type of spiced beef sausage), or have eaten the beyti kebap—tender ground lamb wrapped in lavash, cut into rounds and drizzled with thick yogurt and a tomato-pepper sauce. But if you haven't, consider this your formal invitation.
Must Order: Tiny little tri-cornered dumplings called manti and filled with ground lamb, topped with garlicky yogurt and browned butter and served only on Sundays. 869 Geary St., 415-345-1011, alaturcasf.com

Assab Eritrean Cuisine (Inner Richmond)
What separates a good restaurant from a great one, as we all know, is whether the place has soul. At Assab, there's no doubt—it's evident in the ebullient server (with a smile full of gold teeth) who instructs you how to eat your meal (with your fingers, using the sour injera bread as a scoop) and the chef-owner, Matheos Yohannes, who walks from table to table greeting guests. Everything is served family-style on large platters—we love the mild stewed zucchini, brown lentils and spicy beef zigni, complemented (and cooled) by generous dollops of rich yogurt.
Must Order: The okra stew and a bottle of Ethiopian lager. 2845 Geary Blvd., 415-441-7083

Balompie Café #3 (Outer Mission)
The newest location of Balompie Café (which joins the 21-year-old Capp Street original and the year-old SoMa outpost) is filled with good sounds—the hum of soccer on the television, the sizzle of yucca hitting the deep fryer and the thwack of masa dough between the palms of the Salvadoran woman hand-forming the very things you came here for—pupusas. As at the other two locations, you can order classic versions, stuffed with loroco (a Salvadorean vegetable) and cheese or ground pork and served with a crispy cabbage salad called curtido, tangy with vinegar and shot through with dried oregano. But unique to the new location is the list of specialty pupusas, which includes a shrimp-and-cheese pupusa and another filled with prosciutto and cheese—a cross-cultural triumph if ever we've seen one. Also unique to number three is the draft beer (including feel-good small producer Fat Tire), which only makes a meal here that much more satisfying.
Must Order: The Salvadorean sampler—a pupusa of your choice, fried yucca and a pastel (a meat-filled, deep-fried empanada-like snack). 3801 Mission St., 415-647-4000

Bill's Place (Outer Richmond)
Enter the Twilight Zone, where the burgers arrive by default medium rare (the beef's ground in-house), where crystal chandeliers hang above red-vinyl counter stools (and those stools, thankfully, have backs) and where the Giants are always playing on TV—no matter what season it may be. Though Bill's is the epitome of a family-friendly joint, we've never yet seen a child misbehave here. Maybe that's because within these half-century-old walls, the year 1959 never really came to an end.
Must Order: The Giants Burger (cheddar cheese, bacon and avocado), of course, with fries. 2315 Clement St., 415-221-5262, billsplace.qpg.com

El Cachanilla (Mission)
Though El Cachanilla has a dining room, it's all about the taco window. Through this portal pass some fine tacos—they're smallish and antojito style, and you can choose from fillings that range from tame (carnitas) to adventurous (eye). At $1.50 a pop, you can afford to get a few, topped with self-service condiments such as guacamole and pickled jalapeños, and still have money for a bottle of Mexican Coke. Sit at one of the rickety tables on the sidewalk, where you'll be joined by cowboys, cool kids and cracked-out crazies—in other words, just another day in the Mission.
Must Order: The spicy, greasy chorizo taco. 2948 21st St., 415-550-9410

Five Happiness Restaurant (Inner Richmond)
The unassuming facade of Five Happiness—located next door to the famous Irish pub Abbey Tavern and a stone’s throw from the celebrated Asian-food corridor that is Clement Street—belies its spacious interior, bedecked with the typical red-and-gold Chinese motif and the requisite tank of good-luck koi. We come here to feast on generous seafood dishes, such as deliciously eggy shrimp with lobster sauce and the signature hot garlic chicken wings (with their sticky-sweet glaze, they really are finger-lickin’ good) alongside rollicking tables filled with inebriated businessmen.
Must Order: The off-the-menu Shanghai-style noodles appeal to purists—cloaked with a garlic-and-soy sauce and boasting a nice wok char (but without meat or seafood to distract from the soul-satisfying experience). 4142 Geary Blvd., 415-387-2626

Gaspare's Pizza House and Italian Restaurant (Outer Richmond)
Although the menu lists 27 different varieties of pie, and though the crust is properly thin and the base tomato sauce not too sweet, the pizza here isn't really (gasp) the point. You come to Gaspare's to relive a) your East Coast childhood or b) your fond memories of the movie Moonstruck. This Outer Richmond relic has all the ingredients: Chianti in straw-wrapped flasks, table-side jukeboxes with a time-warp playlist (Dean Martin, Chubby Checker or Mario Lanza) and murals of (on the east wall) Sicily and (on the west) SF. It's also the perfect venue for kids.
Must Order: Number 11, the classic pepperoni pizza. 5546 Geary Blvd., 415-387-5025, gasparespizza.com

Halu (Inner Richmond)
This teensy, sea-foam-green Japanese restaurant is more than a little bit rock 'n' roll. The window displays old Beatles posters, and the front door has a sign that says "Imagine Peace." Step inside, and over the racket of a powerful hood sucking up the smoke from the grill you might hear the music of local Randy Clark playing. This all makes sense once you learn that Halu is a dream realized for musician Shig Komiyama (a member of the Shitones and a former drummer for Hot Tuna) and his wife, Mimi. Their homespun, classic izakaya menu includes ramen, but don't miss the delicately crisp kushi katsu, including one made with chicken and basil, as well as the butterflied yakitori chicken wings, served in the traditional way with nothing but salt and a squeeze of lemon.
Must Order: The gingko-nut yakitori. 312 Eighth Ave., 415-221-9165

Jake's Steaks (Marina)
A handful of places in town sell Philly-style cheesesteaks, but what makes Jake's stand out are the authentic details: Amoroso rolls shipped from the East Coast and your all-important choice of cheese on each sandwich—American, provolone or Cheez Whiz (don't knock it till you've tried it). Other classic staples—waffle fries, chicken tenders, buffalo wings—round out the basic menu; there are six beers on tap, and there's always a game on the tube. Weekends find the place filled with homesick East Coast transplants yelling for their favorite team. Bonus: For dessert, try some Tastykakes—you'll never touch a Hostess Twinkie again.
Must Order: The traditional-style "Whiz With," chopped steak combined with sautéed onions and drenched in melted Whiz. 3301 Buchanan St., 415-922-2211, jakessteaks.net

Kasa Indian Eatery

Kasa Indian Eatery (Castro)
Earnestness pours forth from this taqueria-cum-modern-Indian-restaurant in the Castro, where lawyer-turned-mother-turned-chef Anamika Khanna prepares home-style kati rolls—which, for lack of better comparison, are a bit like an Indian burrito. House-made roti bread is wrapped around your choice of six fillings (from grass-fed lamb curry and chicken tikka to wok-fried paneer cheese with peppers and onions), dolloped with fresh chutneys and accompanied by raita—the result is a handheld triumph with bright, fresh, homemade flavor. Thali plates, like a deconstructed version of a kati roll, are also available, and include all of the above ingredients sided with fragrant basmati rice and lentil dal, presented on the traditional segmented stainless-steel platter.
Must Order: Three kati rolls for $11.95—after two visits, you will have tried them all and can pick a favorite. 4001 18th St., 415-621-6940, kasaindian.com